GOSHEN- Labor Day isn’t just an extra day off or an excuse to fire up the grill. It’s a reminder that every safe workplace, fair wage, and weekend we take for granted exists because every day people stood up and demanded dignity for their labor. We asked union members at a rally in Goshen what this national holiday means to them.
1199 SEIU member Bernice Martin. “I think everybody should become a union. So they can be protected by the union,” she said. “I mean, again, they’re hard workers, and they should have rights.”
Stephanie Vandermark is a teacher and a member of the Port Jervis Teachers Association. “We don’t want people working in unsafe conditions. We don’t want people not getting paid when they work more hours. And they should. So Labor Day is a day for us to reflect on how far we’ve come,” she said.
Jackie Smith is a C.S.E.A. Union member in the Port Jervis City School District. “It’s good to have rallies like these to, you know, actually recognize what this day was meant to be, how it started, and what it truly means.”
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